A new leaf blight disease in Schleichera oleosa seedlings was detected in a Kerala state forest nursery, India. Through morphological, cultural characterization, and multi-gene phylogenetic analysis, the fungal pathogen was identified as Pseudopestalotiopsis camelliae-sinensis, the first report on Schleichera in India. Koch’s postulates were fulfilled. Research attention is required to manage emerging seedling diseases for quality planting materials.

Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) refer to all biological resources harvested from the forest for human use and are not having timber purposes. Two types of NTFPs such as tradable and non-tradable NTFPs are available. In international trade, tradable NTFPs are only significant. NTFPs are important components of food security and a vital source of income for the poor in many developing nations. NTFP collection accounts for almost 58 per cent of the total income earned by Kerala's tribal population. Most of the employment (54.04%) was generated by the wage sector followed by NTFP collection (33.77%). NTFPs were found to be collected and used by tribals for a variety of purposes, including food, medicine, raw materials for making implements, and as a source of income. NTFPs are marketed through various marketing channels, depending on various factors such as the product's nature, demand and proximity to the market. If co-operative societies and EDCs (Eco-Development Committees) could develop value additional units for NTFPs with the participation of indigenous groups, it ensures effective use of their spare time as well as a better livelihood through increased NTFP income.

Survey in three different seasons were conducted for collection and characterization of fungal diseases affecting nursery raised teak seedlings in central Kerala, India. Based on visual symptoms and morphological identification, nine diseases were recorded and among them six were first time records in teak from the state viz; leaf blight caused by Curvularia eragrostidis, leaf spots caused by Macrophomina phaseolina and Botryodiplodia theobromae , collar rot caused by Alternaria alternata , root rots caused by Fusarium solani and Fusarium oxysporum . Based on the investigation and assessment, leaf blight caused by Curvularia eragrostidis and root rot caused by Fusarium oxysporum were considered as two major diseases. Cultural as well as morphological characterization was made for each pathogen and molecular characterization was done for two major diseases causing pathogens. Weather correlation with disease occurrence was found to be significant for two diseases. Curvularia causing severe foliar disease was a new record since it was earlier reported as only of minor significance. The shift in disease spectrum due to increased virulence of minor pathogens should be further analyzed based on the changing climate scenario.

Acacia nilotica (babul gum) reinforced with cellulose nanofibers was investigated for a green, biodegradable, and water-soluble nanocomposite. Cellulose nanofibres (CNF) were extracted via a widely accepted steam explosion process and were reinforced in the babul gum. The films were fabricated by solution casting method using sorbitol as a plasticizer. Various concentrations of the CNF reinforced in babul gum exhibited improved properties of mechanical strength, thermal properties, and wetting strength. The lowered hydrophilicity and enhanced mechanical properties will certainly open new doors to explore these nanocomposites for bio-edible coatings and pharmaceutical applications. Furthermore, qualitative and real-life experiments shred light for use in coating applications.

The article reports an observation on the phytophagous behaviour by the insect larvae of two insect species on a fern, Pteridium revolutum, which is fast emerging as an invasive plant species threatening local biodiversity and wildlife in Kerala State, India.

The experiment was carried out in the field of Instructional Farm, College of Forestry, KAU, Thrissur Kerala, during May 2017 to April 2018. One of the objective was to know the effect of climatic parameters and bark thickness on gum-oleoresin production in Ailanthus triphysa. A total of twenty seven trees were selected for conducting the experiment taking three different girth class i.e., less than 75cm, 75 to 150 cm, greater than 150 cm and three different extraction techniques i.e., V-Shaped method, Cup and Lip method and Straight-Cut method. Data analysis for whole study period revealed that the bark thickness are found to be positively correlated with coefficient value (r = 0.645) and all the different climatic parameter taken were found to be not correlated with gum-oleoresin production. As the Ailanthus triphysa mainly respond by injury made on tree.

Phytosociological studies were conducted in three vegetation types in the WS II area of Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. In each vegetation type, 85 quadrats (10 x 10 m) were laid to quantify the vegetation. Natural forest showed comparatively higher species richness than plantation and vayal (swamps/low lying grassland). In natural forest 96 plant species were present while it was 70 and 66 respectively in plantation and vayal. Fabaceae was the dominant family in all the three vegetation types. The natural forest was dominated by Chromolaena odorata, followed by Lantana camara, Mimosa pudica, Terminalia elliptica, Glycosmis pentaphylla. In the plantations, Chromolaena odorata, Tectona grandis, Mimosa pudica and Glycosmis pentaphylla showed dominance. The vayal was dominated by Arundinella leptochloa. The second most dominant species in the vayal was Chromolaena odorata. Other dominant species were Kyllinga nemoralis and Sporobolus tenuissimus. Among the three, vayal recorded the highest Simpson Diversity Index. The highest Berger-Parker Dominance Index value in plantation indicates the presence of dominant species. Natural forests recorded highest Margalef Richness Index and the least was in vayal. The highest Pielou’s Wiener Equitability Index in vayal indicated all species are evenly distributed.

Sawn coconut palm wood of differing wood densities (high and medium) were treated with three organic preservatives, viz., neem oil, cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) and turpentine. The method adopted was diffusion treatment at various diffusion periods viz., 40, 80 and 120 minutes and absorption percentage of preservatives by sawn coconut wood samples (5 cm × 5 cm × 50 cm) was studied. Both high density wood (HDW) and medium density wood (MDW) samples of coconut palm showed no significant difference in absorption percentage with varying diffusion periods and no significant difference was observed between the chemicals and interaction between the chemicals and diffusion periods.

Kerala enacted the Kerala Forest (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Lands) Act, 2003 to conserve 'fragile ecosystems' lying contiguous to reserve forests. As this Act led to several litigations and conflicts, the current concept of Ecologically Fragile Lands (EFL) was concept mapped among the different stakeholders, including 'small and marginal' farmers in the context of Wayanad district, Kerala. Several dimensions of EFL, viz. 'Ecological', 'Situational', 'Socioeconomic', 'Framework' and 'Better EFL' were developed and debated to evolve a more acceptable EFL concept. The study also accentuates the relevance of public participation in conceiving socially inclusive forest laws and policies.

Abstract The indigenous communities residing near to the forest areas depended on the forest resources for sustaining their livelihood. An attempt to document the level of dependency of the tribes in Western Attappady (Irula, Muduga and Kurumba) on Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) was done through this study. Pre-tested questionnaire survey and semi-structured interview was conducted in the randomly selected one hundred and fifty households. The tribal communities made use of 52 NTFPs, among them 17 NTFPs were used as food, 19 NTFPs as medicine, 6 NTFPs for religious ceremonies and 20 NTFPs collected as a source of income. The Kurumba community settled in the interior areas of the forest has utilized more number of NTFPs than the other two tribal communities settled in the fringe areas of the forest.

A survey was conducted in the home gardens of Cherpu block in Thrissur district of Kerala state to elucidate the floristic attributes of the shrub species and to document the associated ethnobotanical information. Plant diversity analyses revealed 23 shrub species distributed in 15 families in the homegardens. These were observed to be useful in everyday life of the local inhabitants of village as medicinal, edible, ornamental, fuel wood and other uses. Most of the shrubs recorded, having more than one uses. High shrub diversity of Cherpu block may be due to less interference of monoculture crops and plantation species.

Using the stochastic production frontier approach, the technical efficiency of splint and veneer industry of Kerala was analysed. Ailanthus triphysa , Bombax ceiba and Melicope lunu-ankenda (Gaertn.) are still the main raw material species. But the demand of rubber wood as an alternate raw material is now rising. The mean technical efficiency (TE) of this sector was only 0.6. This paper discusses the social and other industrial reasons for the low efficiency in this sector. A migrant, unskilled workforce is possibly bringing down the efficiency. Coupled with this, the employment of obsolete techniques and technologies are the main reasons identified for the low TE scores. However, there many industries within this cluster which had high individual TE scores. This reinforces the scope for improvement within this industry. The marked presence of educated, young entrepreneurs is a definite indication of this industry's continued potential to provide sustainable livelihoods in the future.

In the tropics, the traditional ecological knowledge regarding utilization of diverse Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) available with different human communities remains under-explored. Though not on an organized scale, the collection and sale of various NTFPs, help the members of tropical rural communities to sustain themselves. Bombax ceiba, a tropical moist deciduous tree has various ethnobotanical values. Semul gum is edible and possesses medicinal value. Immature fruits of this tree have value as an expectorant, stimulant and diuretic. Extracts of young roots are used for treating dysentery. Now the dry, fallen ovaries of this tree species have a new commercial value, and are being widely collected and traded by some local herbalists in Thrissur District of Kerala.

Phenology of Jatropha curcas was studied by selecting 10 plants and taking monthly observations on leaf shedding, leaf flushing, flowering and fruiting. The extent of fruit set in different modes of pollination viz., open pollination, self pollination and wind pollination was determined. The plant displayed phenological cycle twice a year for all periodical events viz., leaf shedding, leaf flushing, flowering and fruiting. The first cycle lasts from January to July and second cycle starts from May and ends in November. However, the duration of flowering stage was longer in second season as it coincides with rainy season. Fruiting appeared from fourth week of May tofirst week of July in first season and from second week of October to third week of November in second season. The fruit attained yellow to brown stage of maturity at 16 to 19 days after fruit set. The maximum mean length (33.23mm) and diameter (29.17mm) were recorded in greenish yellow coloured fruit followed by yellow coloured fruit with 31.97mm length and 28.47mm diameter. The flower drop in inflorescence was 94.01% and only 3.99% of flowers set in to fruits.

A survey was conducted in the home gardens of Cherpu Block in Thrissur district of Kerala state to elucidate the floristic attributes of the wood perennials and to document the associated dendrobotanical information. Plant diversity analyses revealed 81 tree species in different families with a Simpson’s index of diversity of 0.91. The collected dendrobotancial information confirms the role and value of trees in providing multiple ecosystem services to the society.

The individual palms (77 T, 146 T, 149 T, 132 D, 88 T, 27T, 117T, 114T, 69D, 99D, 42P and 45P) of Tenera x Tenera (614 T x 614 T, 137 T x 137 T, 323 T x 323 T, 648 T x 648 T, 65T x 323T, 663 T x 699 7) progenies (D- dura, T-Tenera and P-Pisifera), which were yielding more than 125 kg Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB)/palm/year (average of 2000-01 to 2004-05) were provisionally selected and subjected to bunch component analysis. Among the selected dura fruit palms, 69 D recorded high (24.8%) oil to bunch ratio followed by 99 D (19.4%) and 132 D (19.4%). They are not directly useful for hybrid seed production as their potentiality is confirmed only through progeny testing. The palm number 42P from the cross of 663 T x 699 T recorded maximum oil to bunch (24.3%) and fruit to bunch (42.9%), whereas 45P showed low values (23.1%) for fruit to bunch. Above pisiferas (45P and 42P) are undesirable for seed production as they showed fairly good fruit set (fertile). Because, sterile pisiferas with very low or zero A, fruit set only selected for hybrid seed production. Two Tenera palms (149 T from 614 T x 614 T and 114 T from 648 T x 648 T) showed promising bunch quality components which could be used as parental palms for producing progenies for new seed garden by inter se mating or selfing.